"Livelihood Bills Held Hostage" vs. "Special Counsel Probe Must Come First"

[Anchor]

The National Assembly remains in a standoff today (July 16) over the formation of parliamentary committees and the abolition of supplementary investigation rights. The Democratic Party criticized the People Power Party for stalling the National Assembly by refusing to process even livelihood-related bills, while the People Power Party countered that issues regarding the introduction of a special counsel and supplementary investigation rights must be resolved first.

Reported by Jeong Yunsik.

[Reporter]

During a policy coordination meeting today, Democratic Party Floor Leader Han Byung-do criticized the People Power Party, stating that their repeated boycotts of plenary sessions have left 59 livelihood bills, the special counsel bill for the National Election Commission, and follow-up legislation for three major mega-projects in limbo.

Floor Leader Han specifically targeted Representative Jang Dong-hyuk, accusing the People Power Party of changing its stance by refusing to conduct a recount while insisting solely on a special counsel probe.

[Han Byung-do / Democratic Party Floor Leader: They are only harping on about election fraud while delaying both the recount and the special counsel probe. This can only be seen as an intention to use the infringement of citizens' voting rights as a tool to extend Representative Jang Dong-hyuk's political career.]

Floor Leader Han warned that if the People Power Party continues to refuse the formation of parliamentary committees and the processing of livelihood bills, the party will have no choice but to make a grave decision.

People Power Party Representative Jang Dong-hyuk launched an offensive by repeatedly raising allegations that President Lee Jae-myung played golf on the day a crew member of a Navy frigate went missing and died in the East Sea.

[Jang Dong-hyuk / People Power Party Representative: Why do you treat the lives of our soldiers and our citizens so lightly? I emphasize that if it is true that you played golf, it is clear grounds for impeachment.]

Representative Jang criticized the Democratic Party, stating that they unilaterally processed the bill to extend the second special counsel probe in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, yet are refusing the special counsel probe into the ballot paper shortage incident.

Floor Leader Jeong Jeom-sik urged President Lee to clarify his position, noting that the President has remained thoroughly silent regarding the abolition of supplementary investigation rights.

With the Democratic Party calling for a return to the National Assembly to cooperate on bill processing, and the People Power Party insisting that the withdrawal of the abolition of supplementary investigation rights must come first, the sharp divide suggests that the uncompromising standoff will continue for the time being.

(Video coverage: Lee Seung-hwan, Video editing: Jang Hyun-ki)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.